Our house is a buzz today!
22 family members are gathered here!
(everyone arrived at all hours last evening)

Though the house is a goodly size,
we're crammed in like sardines...
but WE LOVE IT!

It warms my heart and my life
I treasure these times,
and I don't care that a bazillion kids are underfoot! (:

Pies and other desserts are being made today,
the turkey sits in the fridge...
waiting to be roasted tomorrow.
The kitchen smells SO good!

Tomorrow's fare:
Roast Turkey
with Stuffing
Prime Rib
Mashed Potatoes
Sweet Potatoes
Green Beans (Mom's yummy recipe!)
Cranberry Jello Salad (also Mom's specialty)
Dinner Rolls (regular and gluten-free)
Cranberry Sauce

Apple Pies
Pumpkins Pies
Pecan Pies
Chocolate Cream Pies (Sis's famous recipe)
Homemade Ice Cream
fresh made Whipped Cream

Wine
Martinelli's Sparkling Apple Cider

Mmm Mmm GOOD!



The meaning of Thanksgiving to us...

is that there is nothing more precious or treasured
than Family~
Our tradition is to go around the table before we eat,
and each person says what they are thankful for.

Remember to count your blessings!

~Happy Thanksgiving to you all~

(even those who don't live in the USA)
(:

So many blogging friends have become dear to me.
We meet serendipitously via the unseen magical threads
formed by the unfathomable number of 1's & 0's
through this amazing internet of ours.

Its a magic web...
spun around this globe of ours...
which carries our best wishes, our words, our hearts,
our dreams and hopes...

back and forth to each other,
criss-crossing many times each day,
until each message reaches its intended owner.

The women I've met since beginning my blog
just 10 short months ago are amazing to me.
I 've discovered that I have friends from all over the USA,
Australia, Canada, France, England...
Netherlands, Marrakesh, Sweden...
Oh, I can't name all the corners,
the list is too long.

Not long ago I met Anna
An amazing, strong, and cheerful girl!
I go to her blog... thinking to lend a little support,
but I always come away with the opposite...
having received her support instead!
How does that happen?
I don't know, but its magic!

Anna has "the touch"
she's a wonderful photographer and wordsmith.
I share a common interest with her...
a love for the Language of Flowers.
Did you know that flowers have a language all their own?

They do...
and so today I am sending a little bouquet from my garden
(via this magical thread of 1's & 0's)

to Anna

If I could walk across the way and hand it to you myself Anna,
I certainly would!
But since you live in Ontario, Canada
and I live in California, USA
it will have to be a "virtual bouquet"
(though it sits in real life on my dinning table)

To Anna
with a big Hug of Support
as you move ahead in strength and peace!

Feverfew - for "Protection"

Calla Lily - for the "Magnificent Beauty"
of your generous spirit!

Lemon Balm - that "Brings Love"

Lemon - for the "Zest" in your life!

Fern - for the "Sincerity" of friendship

Wormwood - for "Tranquility & Happiness"
which you have in abundance!

Mint - especially for "Protection from illness"
& for "Warmth of feeling"

Iris - for all the "Faith, Hope, Wisdom and Valor"
that you have in your heart

Red Rose - for all that is "Pure and Lovely"

Hugs,
Vicki



And to all my blogging friends,

Tattered Wings
If per chance you find that your wings feel a bit tattered today,
be assured...
and take pride in the fact,
that this is because of their vigorous use!

They have not sat idly on your back,
or been protected from the ravages of the wind.

No, they've carried you safely through life thus far,
the shimmering evidence of life's best activities.

They've been exercised against stiff winds,
and carried you past to the safety of gentle breezes.

They've been tinged by the heat of a flame here and there,
that you may have grazed on your way home.

Their ragged edges are the vestiges of time well spent...
helping and being involved with others...

a token of a busy life.

Wear them proudly
Wrap them around you
Snuggle against them

They carry you onward,
made stronger each day by use
always more use~

Old Friends

Hello blogging friends~

This a a post about Friends,

and all the silly, wonderful, happy, serious, real and perfectness about the subject of best friends for life! This week two of our best friends popped in for a visit! We are a pact of 6 friends ... 3 girls & 3 boys. Three couples ...who have worked and lived and raised our 8 kids together... that would be 3, 3 and 2 kids for 3 couples... starting about 30 years ago.

Wow, does that sound old?! Yes... and No.

Let me explain...

When I was a kid I watched my parents in their friendships, and thought of them as "old." I thought they were supposed to "be" old and "act" old. You know... be responsible and all. And they were all that, but as I've gotten "older" my attitude has definitely changed. I realize acting old only means that if you are "old" you act responsibly in life. You act in truth and with trust. But that doesn't mean you can't act like kids sometimes. You can be an adult, but act like the kid you feel like you are ... well, at least I feel like a kid in my mind ... especially when old friends are around.

In fact, in my mind, I still think "young... like 20-something" about myself. Yeah, I lie to myself. Its amazing how, the older you get, the younger old is! Maybe not according to my kids... but you know, time is relative.

So we had two of our best friends pop in for a visit this week. We have two sets of couple-friends, who have been our friends for (should I say this! Yikes! Its too much reality for me!) THIRTY YEARS... yes, 30 - that's THREE OH! We are friends through thick and thin. We all know that we will always be best friends until we die. At this point in life nothing's going to mess that up.

So I was thinking about it. What does being "best friends" for soooo many years really mean?

Well... it means

1. You love eachother's kids and pets, and you'd do anything to help any of them

2. You confide in eachother, knowing for certain that it will go no further... no gossip, no guessing... only trust.



2. You act like silly kids even though you're 30 years older!



3. You trust eachother implicitly, because heck, you've been through thick and thin throughout
enough years to know that they would never hurt you.

4. You'd do anything within your power to help and support them, because you know without a doubt that they'd do the same for you.

5. You know that 30 years from now, nothing will change ... except the lines and wrinkles, maybe the lack of a little hair or a pooch in the mid-section here and there ... but the heart, soul and love will be the same.


6. You can play silly practical jokes on eachother AND eachother's spouses, because you know that there is no guessing or distrust at any time about where the relationships lie... even if they kinda look X-rated! (Uh, yes... the girls usually win by grabbing the seat first... not because the men are gentlemanly or anything. They aren't! They will fight you over the outhouse!)


7. You visit eachother, no matter where in the world you each live... even if some of you live in Australia and the others live 600 miles away to the north or south.

(even if some of you are heathier than the others,
and decide to show off by walking further!)

8. You do fun active stuff together, and always will, even if you're all in wheelchairs one day

9. You huddle together, hug, love and care... forever and ever, til death do you part!

Make friends, and be sure to keep them ... ALWAYS!

Honor

Words just get in the way...

I won't bore you with words to describe this sunset.

You wouldn't be interested in anything I could say.

Words defy description anyway...

I can tell you that I raced for my camera though...

after all photos were snapped (and these are but a tini tiny few of them)

I just sat in the garden and basked in the gold of it all.

Happy Autumn dear friends~

And let me acquaint you with my old buddy, Paws
If I'm out in the garden, so is he.
Too old to hold his ground with other animals anymore,
he prefers the safety of us humans now.

A little story about how we found eachother.

We had lost our kitty to the coyotes,
and my boys were so sad.
They wanted a new kitty,
so I decided to look at the animal shelter.
There are so many animals without homes...
Why not give one a home where it will be loved?
I didn't allow the kids to come with me...
If they had, we'd have come home with at least several cats.

As I walked into the room,
the attendant informed me that
there were 127 kittens waiting for homes that day.

How do you choose a kitten from 127 of them!?


The room was set up as a round-about,
with cages stacked to 6 ft. high along all the walls,
and a section as high in the middle.

The very first kitten I saw was creamy white,
...about 3 months old with piercing blue eyes,
rings on his tail,
and chocolate brown pads on his paws...

But those weren't his best features.
As I approached his cage, he reached both front paws out toward me
as if to draw me to him.

You can imagine that it was love at first sight.
But I felt it only fair to at least look at the other kittens.

I couldn't keep my mind off that one though.
I could hear his calls as I walked around the room...

And when I came back, there he was still...
Pulling me in with his chocolate browns.
Choose ME! Choose ME! PLEEEEASE!

I did...
And he came home 16 years ago
His name would be "Paws"
for those soft chocolate pads.

And he would live happily ever after...
The MOST spoiled cat in the world!
And the love of our lives (:

Live on dear Paws!
You enchant us still

Halloween Boo Hoo

Well, wouldn't ya know it.

I took a memory-card full of photos of our Halloween party...
which turned out to be corrupt,
and I lost all the photos on that card!
Boo Hoo!

"...no use crying over spilt milk..."
as my grandma would say.

I did manage to get a couple of photos
of a witch and a character from Kiss
(from the other memory-card)

Here they are...
handsome characters?

That's it!
All my photos of the food, party and decorations... gone

Last post I asked if anyone cared to guess how much
our biggest pumpkin weighed.
Dzintra was the only one who dared,
and so she WON! LOL
The pumpkin weighed in at 267 lbs.

Congratulations Dzintra!
This silly little handmade button bracelet
from the party up at Crystal Bay Farm is on its way to you.


Now that all the Halloween fun is over,
its time to clean up the garden tools for winter.

I never thought I'd say this...
but now I know why my dad used to badger
us kids to keep things cleaned up and put way!
I used to get so mad at him for being so mean,
and making us work so hard!
He never let us kids slack.

I swore I'd never be so tough on my kids...

Well, guess what?

I find myself eating alot of words as I get older! LOL!
Now I know why he was such a stickler about things!
Who can afford to buy new ones every year?
Not me!

So, I'm afraid I've turned into my dad...
or maybe I just got his genes...
but I clean everything up and put them away
so they'll last for many years.


And in the garden...
The second batch of broccoli and cabbage is ready,
and we're planting onions, chives and lettuce
for winter crops...
one of the nice things about living in a mild climate.
(Also more year-round work)

Have a great week everyone!